


Spiked

by MorganaNK



Category: Inspector Lynley - All Media Types, Inspector Lynley Mysteries (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-10
Updated: 2017-03-12
Packaged: 2018-10-02 08:53:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,327
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10213967
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MorganaNK/pseuds/MorganaNK
Summary: After a night out Barbara needs Tommy's help





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Property of Elizabeth George and the BBC, no copyright infringement intended

I put my book to one side, muted the stereo and then answered my phone.

“Lynley.”

“Sir? Me Sir. Need Sir. Bother Sir.”

“Barbara?” She sounded strange, distracted and more than a little drunk.

“Come Sir? You Sir?”

“You’re not making sense Barbara. What’s going on?”

“Drink Sir. Unwell.”

My stomach dropped; the disjointed pieces of the conversation suddenly making horrible sense. “Where are you Barbara?”

“Star, Sir, Tavern.”

I knew the place, we had been there before. “Stay near the bar, I am on my way.”

~*~

Tommy and I had been away all week in Oxfordshire, assisting the Thames Valley police with a case. When we had got back to London I had told him that I would make my way home from his house; he had done all the driving and looked exhausted. On my way home I had popped into the pub for a pie and a pint, not wanting to faff about with takeaways or a microwave meal. Taking my pint, I sat in the corner and waited for my meal.

After fifteen minutes I began to feel peculiar. My thoughts were running away from me, and I could see faces laughing at me from the carpet. As I reached for my mobile phone I began to feel nauseous, and I knew that there was something very wrong. Recalling Tommy’s number, I hit the call button and prayed that he would answer.

“Lynley.”

The relief that washed over me when he answered soon ebbed away when I found I couldn’t string two words together to make a coherent sentence. I hoped that Tommy would understand me because I desperately needed his help.

~*~

I abandoned the car in the middle of the car park and hurried into the pub, my eyes scanning the room for Barbara’s face. Suddenly I saw her, slumped at the bar, a man hovering round her. I strode over to her, lifting her from the stool, carrying her from the building before settling her in the front seat of the Bristol.

“It’s all right Barbara, you’re safe now. I’m going to look after you.”

She groaned and muttered something incoherent, actions that sealed my decision. Putting the car in drive, I headed towards the Chelsea and Westminster hospital.

I carried Barbara into the A&E department, calling for help as I did so. She was lifted from my arms onto a trolley.

“She called me, I think her drink was spiked. Can you take blood and/or urine samples?”

“And you are Sir?”

“Detective Inspector Lynley. That’s Detective Sergeant Barbara Havers, my partner and my best friend.”

The attitude of the medical staff changed once I had told them who we were. Barbara was hurried away and I was encouraged to follow. I stood guard over her as the blood samples were taken and she was checked over. A nurse walked over to me and took my arm, leading me outside the curtained cubicle.

“We can either monitor Barbara here, or she can be discharged into your care. You will need to monitor her for at least seventy-two hours; will that be a problem?”

“No, not at all. What should I look out for?”

She put a leaflet in my hand and I glanced over it. “If there’s anything that worries you, or anything that you’re not sure about, you can call for an ambulance or bring her back here.”

“I’ll make sure I watch her carefully.”

I carried Barbara upstairs to my room, sitting her on the bed and beginning to undress her.

“Sir, sorry.”

I brushed her hair back off her forehead, “it’s not your fault Barbara, you did the right thing in calling me.”

“Trouble, always.”

I slipped one of my t-shirts over her head, before removing her shoes, socks and jeans.

“You’re not. I’m glad you called me, that you felt that you could turn to me for help.”

I folded back the duvet and then lifted Barbara into bed, covering her over. Her hand reached out and grabbed my wrist.

“Don’t.”

“I’m just going to get undressed Barbara.”

She shook her head, “needy, sorry.”

I quickly shed my clothes, sliding into bed next to her and pulling her into my arms.

“Stop apologising Barbara, just relax and try and sleep. You’re safe now. I’m here and I’ll look after you.”

She nestled against me, her head resting on my chest. “Love Sir.”

I kissed the top of her head, holding her close, and whispered, “I love you too.”


	2. Chapter 2

I stayed awake, I didn’t dare do anything else. Barbara was confused and restless; when she did sleep, it wasn’t peaceful. In the early hours she became ill, being violently sick. I cleaned up after her, held back her hair and comforted her. She apologised repeatedly, still not completely coherent, begging me not to leave her, as if I ever would, or could.

It was well into the morning when Barbara finally fell asleep properly. I sat beside the bed to watch over her, my blood running cold as I thought about what could have happened to her if she hadn’t had called me, if I hadn’t answered her call. I could have lost her, and the mere thought of that terrified me.

I had called Hillier from the hospital, and I called him again while Barbara was sleeping, updating him on her condition. I told him that neither of us would be in the following week, that Barbara would need time to get over what had happened; he was surprisingly understanding.

Despite my best intentions, I must have dozed off in the chair, because I was woken by Barbara getting out of bed. I smiled at her, rubbing the sleep from my eyes.

“How are you feeling?”

She scuffed her feet on the carpet, seemingly not able to look me in the eye. “Thirsty, and embarrassed, but mostly thirsty.”

I passed her a glass of water from the bedside table. She drained the glass rapidly, wiping the back of her hand over her mouth. “Thank you.”

“Was that enough? I can get you some more.”

She shook her head, but still wouldn’t look at me.

“Barbara, you don’t have to be embarrassed, you did the right thing. Your drink was spiked, so in no way are you to blame for anything that happened to you.”

“I was in the pub, waiting for my meal, and then I woke up here. I don’t remember anything else.”

I sat down beside her, my arm around her shoulder. “You called me, you weren’t making sense. I hurried to the pub, found you, took you to hospital and then brought you back here.”

“Why?”

“Because you needed looking after, you still need looking after. You need supervision for seventy-two hours, to make sure you are okay.”

She shrugged me off and began to pace. “So, this is duty to you?”

“God no! You and I, it’s never been duty, not even on our first case. It’s always been more than that, so much more.”

She slumped down on the bed next to me. “I called you?”

“You did. You told me that you needed me. Do you have any idea how long I have waited to hear you say those words to me? I wish more than anything that the situation had been different, that you hadn’t had to go through this, but I don’t wish you hadn’t called.”

“I don’t understand?”

“You’ve always been there for me. Every time I fall apart you are there to gather up the pieces and put me back together again. I owe you more than I can ever hope to repay so, doing this for you, being able to look after you, to have you need me, it means so much. I know that it is hard for you to turn to someone, to rely on them, but you can rely on me. What was it that you once said to me, that showing emotion doesn’t make you weak, it makes you human. We are both human Barbara, and we both have emotions, wants and desires.”

“Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”

“I’m saying that, when you feel better, you and I need to talk, but right now all you have to do is get well, oh and let me help you. We’ve waited over ten years, a couple more days won’t hurt either of us.”

Her head rested against my shoulder, my head atop of hers.

“And you promise we’ll talk?”

“I promise.”


	3. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimers still apply
> 
> So, this story was only supposed to be two chapters, mainly because I couldn't find any first, second, or even third hand accounts of the days following the consumption of a spiked drink, and I wanted Barbara's experience to be truthful. However, a certain someone felt a little short-changed because Tommy and Barbara never had 'the promised talk', so here it is... I hope it fits the bill, but remember, things are never easy for these two!
> 
> Annoyingly, this is a re-write because, idiot that I am, I managed to delete the original document - note to self: copy, paste, THEN delete!
> 
> Spot the Hue and Cry album title in this chapter!

Barbara bent to put her plate in the dishwasher, before leaning against the worktop, her hands gripping the edges. She looked troubled.

“What,” she snapped, “have I grown three heads or something?”

I smiled softly at her. “No, no extra heads, but you do look as if you have something on your mind.”

“It’s nothing, well it is but…”

I walked over to her, wrapping my arms around her waist, pulling her flush against my body. She leant into my embrace. “Tell me what’s bothering you.”

“Two weeks ago, you said we would talk, in fact you promised we would talk, and yet we haven’t. We are together virtually twenty-four-seven, over half of my stuff is here, and yet there is still something between us, a barrier, things unspoken. I feel as if I am living in limbo.”

“I love you Barbara, but you know that without me telling you, and you’ve known it since the night I turned up at your flat. I needed you, you were the only person I could turn to, the only one who would understand.”

Barbara pushed herself free and began to pace, a sure sign she was angry.

“Back then I thought you might love me, in some way anyhow, but then Helen waltzed back into your life and you welcomed her with open arms. When she died, I tried to be there for you but you repeatedly pushed me away; and I still can’t begin to understand what the hell you were thinking when you slept with Julia Oborne.”

“I acknowledge I made some mistakes, major mistakes, but I was so preoccupied with doing what was expected of me, of doing the right thing.”

“And _doing_ Julia was the right thing?”

I winced, knowing that I’d deserved that.

“Julia… Julia was there. I’d lost Helen, and I believed that, after all these years, Julia had just found out the truth of what had happened to her brother Justin; we were two lost souls who sought comfort in each other.”

“So, she was just a warm body with a pulse; someone you could use to fuck your grief out.”

Her words struck me hard, my heart breaking for her, her pain written clearly across her face. 

“Yes, in a way she was. I’m not proud of my behaviour. If I could go back… I do love you Barbara.”

“You think you do, and maybe you’re right, only you can know that. But I know this; you are the only person who can hurt me, and you have done so many times. You reach into my chest, rip out my heart and then trample it to dust. I hate that you can do that, but I hate myself more for letting you. Good old Havers, she’ll always be there because she hasn’t got anyone else. I can shout at her, walk all over her, deride her, disrespect her, but she’ll keep coming back for more.”

I grabbed hold of her shoulders, stopping her in her tracks, forcing her to look at me.

“Don’t you think that I hate myself for treating you like that?”

“Perhaps, but it didn’t stop you, did it?”

“And what about the way you treated me? If we’re going to go down this route, then let’s look at all the times you yelled at me.”

Barbara shook herself free again. “I should go. I’ll collect my stuff when you are at work tomorrow.”

She shifted towards the door but I pushed in front of her, blocking her exit with my arm.

“This isn’t tit for tat; I’m laying myself bare here. I’m showing you the real me; my faults, my flaws, every part of me, and I’m hoping that you’ll love me in spite of them.”

She turned away from me, resting her forehead on the wall and sighing deeply.

“Loving you has never been the problem.”

I moved to stand beside her, my hand on her back. “If you love me, and I love you, then nothing else matters.” I began to run my hand up and down her spine, relieved when she didn’t push me away. “We’ve been together in one way or another for over ten years; we’ve seen the very best of each other and the very worst. We’ve consoled each other, carried each other. I admit that I’ve taken you for granted, but I’ve been trying to change, really trying. Please give me a chance Barbara, give us, our relationship a chance.”

“I’m scared Tommy.”

Her voice was barely a whisper, but she had called me Tommy, and that gave me hope. I needed to tread carefully. “Of what? Tell me.”

“That we’ll tear each other to shreds. I don’t want to be seduced and abandoned Tommy, I don’t want to be another one of your conquests.”

“Never. I can’t promise you that we won’t argue, you’d know I was lying if I did, but I can promise you that I finally know what love is.”

“And?”

“It’s you Barbara. All along it’s been you.”

She turned around and stumbled into my arms, tears streaming down her face. I realised that I was crying too, but with relief not sadness.

“I love you Barbara, and I intend to spend the rest of my life showing you.”

“I love you too Tommy; I just hope we don’t regret this.”

“We won’t.”

“How can…”

I silenced her with a kiss. "Trust me, we won't."


End file.
